Fiona's Favorite
by givesmehope
Summary: Carl was always Fiona's favorite, and although she never admitted it, everyone knew.


Carl has always been Fiona's favorite, although she won't admit it to anyone.

She has never truly known why- maybe it was because of the fact that besides Liam, Carl was the youngest, and she could call him hers. Him and Liam were her babies. She raised them. She changed their diapers, went to their parent-teacher conferences, held them while they cried and let them sleep in her bed when they had nightmares. Yes, she raised them. Unlike Liam, Carl was old enough to appreciate that. Maybe that's why Carl is her favorite.

Maybe Carl is her favorite because he has never left her side or faltered in his loyalty. Carl, out of all her siblings, was the most loyal. The most caring. He may show it in bizarre ways, but the genuine care has always been there. Frank wasn't a good father. Never would be. Yet, Carl fought for him and protected him when no one else did. Carl may have a tough exterior, but he genuinely was an amazing kid with a golden heart. Carl saw the good in everyone, but no one saw the good in Carl. Except for Fiona. He knew that, and he clung to her like his life depended on it. Maybe that's why he's her favorite.

Maybe Carl is her favorite because he always tried to protect her, comfort her, and remind her how amazing she was. Fiona tried to raise her siblings to the best of her ability. Sometimes, she fell short. She made mistakes. She was still a kid herself, how was she expected to raise 5 of them on her own? She remembers vividly the day that Carl went to cancer camp (although she didn't know it was cancer camp and is still furious at Frank for making Carl fake a deadly disease) and he ran up to her, snaked his arms around her waist in a bone crushing hug, and said "I just want to say thanks for being a great sister". She could feel her eyes welling up in awe of the amazing young man she had brought up. No one thought anything of Carl, but Fiona knew better. She played it off, saying "You feeling alright, Carl?" but to this day, that is her favorite thing that any of her siblings had ever said to her. Carl appreciated Fiona, and let her know that. Maybe that's why Carl is her favorite.

Maybe Carl is her favorite because he knew her better than anyone else and knew how to handle any situation involving her. When he was 12, Fiona was on her way home from work and got attacked by two men in an alleyway. They knocked her out cold and took advantage of her. When she came to, she felt their hands roaming her body and screamed for help to no avail. When they were through with her, they left her there. She hissed as the pain went through her limbs and limped home, hoping that Lip and Ian weren't awake. They would kill for her, she knew that. She just didn't want any reason for her kid brothers to end up in juvie. As she limped to the front door, and turned the key, she prayed that none of her siblings would wake up and find her in this mess. She slowly made her way up the stairs, and plopped down on her bed. As the mattress touched her battered body, she erupted in shaking sobs. She was sobbing so hard that she didn't hear the door open, nor did she feel the eyes of her little brother on her.

"Fi?" Carl said tentatively, "Are you alright?"

Her eyes snapped up towards the door, and she decided to mask her pain for his sake.

"Yeah, Carl, I'm fine. Go back to bed".

He didn't go to bed. Instead, he shut the door quietly behind him, locking it, and sat down next to her.

"You aren't fine, Fi. You're my big sister. I know you better than that. What happened?" He had not yet seen her face, and Fiona was trying to keep it that way.

"Carl, please just go to bed honey, I'm okay…"

He took his hand and cupped her chin, pulling her face towards him. He gasped and his eyes filled with anger. "Fi, who the fuck did that to you?" He gently rubbed her face where the bruise was forming, a look of overprotectiveness in his eyes that she had never seen him possess.

"Language, Carl!" she hissed, as the pain once again took over.

"I don't care Fi," Carl said, venom in his tone.

"Tell me who did that to your face, so I can kill them."

She half-laughed, as she erupted into sobs once again. Carl noticed this and opened his arms out to her.

"Fi, just this once, let me hold you like you always hold me when I'm scared…" Fiona usually would interject, but needed the comfort. She let her head rest on Carl's chest as he wrapped his small arms around her midsection and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I've got you, Fi… I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to take care of you".

"C-c-arl," she said, sobbing once more,

"They didn't only do this to my face…"

Carl's grip tightened around his sister and he looked down at her, eyes on fire.

"What do you mean? What else did they do?"

She took a deep breath and Carl could tell she was getting nervous. He kissed her forehead, once again,

"Fi, don't be nervous. I got you… you can tell me".

Fiona took a breath once again,

"Th-they, they r-raped me Carl" she said quietly, silent tears sliding down her cheeks.

That statement was met with silence, and that concerned her. She didn't want him thinking any less of her, and she once again started hiccupping,

"Say anything, Carl, just anything. I'm so sorry for telling you that, honey… I just couldn't deal with it alone tonight… Please don't hate me…" She put her head down, barely able to contain herself.

"Fiona Gallagher, don't you ever say that again".

Her sobbing ceased as she listened to the brokenness of Carl's voice.

She looked up at him, and was shocked to see tears rolling down his cheeks as well.

"I could never hate you, Fiona. Never a day in my damn life could I hate my sister—actually, scratch that, my mom. Fiona, you're my mom. You have been since the day Monica left and made it all go to shit. Frank might be dad, and Monica might be our mother, but you're really mom. You might not be that to anyone else, but you are to me…" he paused for a minute, rubbing circles on her lower back with his thumb, "No one has taken care of me, loved me, and believed in me like you have. You're my mom, my sister, my biggest fan, my best friend. And I'm crying right now because I couldn't protect you Fi. I couldn't protect you from those douchebags and now my hero is broken and in pain because of them. You've taken care of everyone Fi, and no one has taken care of you. That's what I'm here for Fiona, I'm going to take care of you and make sure you never are in pain like this because of two assholes ever again. Tomorrow, Lip, Ian and I are gonna go and kick their asses, like they deserve. Because no one, and I mean no one, messes with my big sister, our big sister… and lives." He finished his speech, eyes on fire but also filled with love. "And I'm going downstairs to make you your favorite snack, toast with peanut butter and bananas… extra banana… Then we're going to bed, but I'm not leaving you alone tonight, so scoot over and make some more room." He planted a kiss on her forehead once more, and got up to leave.

"Carl…" Fiona said, in awe,

He stopped and looked back,

"Yeah?"

Fiona didn't even know how to begin.

"I love you so much. Thank you for my being my baby. I couldn't ask for better, especially not after tonight. You're my little superman."

He smiled, and squeezed her hand,

"I learned from the best…mom."

Carl did as he promised, and brought up her midnight snack, along with a glass of her favorite cheap wine. He sat with her, watching her intently, and rubbed her back until she fell asleep that night. He stayed there with her throughout, arms around her waist. For the first time in a long time, Fiona was being taken care of… and for a little bit, she felt okay with it.

The next morning, you could hear Carl explaining what happened to Lip and Ian, both of which were furious. Lip kicked a hole in the wall and Ian punched the nearest object.

"I'm gonna rip them to pieces!" Ian said menacingly. Lip was a tad bit more concerned with why they weren't informed earlier.

"What the fuck, Carl?!" Lip said angrily,

"Why the hell wouldn't you wake us up?!"

"because," Carl said pointedly,

"I know how to take care of her, I had it handled."

She smiled, through all of her pain, and knew that Carl was right.

He came in shortly after, a worried look on his face. "Mornin' Fi… are you alright? I'm sorry for telling them, I just had to…"

Fiona stopped him mid-sentence,

"It's alright Carl. You did more than what you were supposed to do".

Lip, Ian, and Carl did end up finding the men who raped Fiona, and beat them both to a pulp. Since it was familial defense, the cops let it slide.

Lip put an arm around Fiona's shoulders that night, planted a kiss on her cheek and said,

"Ian and I were mad, Fi. We were furious. No one has the right to touch our sister. But no one was as mad as Carl… he took the guy that was twice his size, threw him against a trash can and said that if that guy ever touched his sister again, he wouldn't live to see the next day. He really loves you more than anyone in this world, you know that right?"

Fiona smiled.

"Yeah, Lip… I know."

Reflecting back on all of the good and bad, Fiona just knew that were too many reasons to count when it came to why Carl was her number one. Lip and Ian were her right hand men, her rocks. Debs was her dose of sunshine. Liam was her baby…But Carl was her favorite. And although she never admitted it, everyone knew.


End file.
